The Gathering Clouds
by Allicat9
Summary: "There's a storm coming, and we have to be ready when it comes." The first wizarding war is about to reach it's height, the Order of the Pheonix is gathering, and Isabella must choose a side. First in the Storm series. RL/OC. SB/OC
1. Chapter 1

**Review. Please :'( ?**

**Chapter One**

**The Meeting of the Slug Club**

The train whistled, signaling its leave to everyone still standing on the platform. Parents waved goodbye, and shouted last minute reminders to the students hanging out of the Express's windows. The last warm breezes of summer blew through the open train's windows, providing it's occupants with one last whiff of home before the scarlet steam engine pulled away and the cool winds of fall were ushered in.

Isabella Carmichael moved to the back of the train, dragging her trunk behind her. This was finally it; she was in her seventh year. After all this time, she would finally be an NEWT student. It's what she had dreamed about form the moment she had set foot in that school.

It wasn't that she didn't like Hogwarts, quite the contrary in fact, she loved it. The succulent feasts, the rolling grounds, the fascinating classes, and, of course, her friends. But Isabella was an adult at heart, she always had been, and nothing excited her more then the prospect of getting her own place, with her own job and living her own life. It was exhilarating to imagine herself free from the endless parties and balls and society teas her parents loved to force on her so much. The idea of being free to curl up by her own window with a book was insanely enticing to her.

"Oh there you are Bella!" a voice cried, and Isabella looked up just in time to see a mane strawberry blonde curls pounce on her and wrap her in a bone crushing hug.

"Lisa, please, you're…crushing…me."

"Oh! I'm so sorry!" Lisa cried, breaking her embrace so quickly that Isabella stumbled against the wall.

"I'm happy to see you too Lisa." Isabella chuckled, straightening herself.

Lisa Caraher was Isabella's best friend in the whole world and had been since they were eleven. She was short and elf-like, but curvy with a round, open face and toothy grin. She was loud, obnoxious and dangerous in charms (which she could just never get the hang of), and sometimes, Isabella just wanted to strangle her with her shoelaces, but she was honestly one of the most caring and brutally honest people Isabella had ever met.

"Come on, me and Jack have a compartment!" she beckoned to Isabella before darting off towards the back of the train.

Isabella sighed and rolled her eyes to the heavens. Jack Ryan was a cousin of sorts, his mother was her grandmother's younger sister; Grandmother had had her kids early, Aunt Christina had had Jack late. He was the most serious kid Isabella had ever met, and that was saying something, for she came from a long line of serious people. But Jack took the cake, which was funny, being as his parents were the most un-serious people Isabella had ever met. Where as they were goofy and adventurous, Jack was sulky and consistent. He had the exact same thing for every meal. Every meal for God's sake! But he was smart and sarcastic, which were two qualities Isabella approved of, so, in their third year, Jack had been inducted into their little group were he had sourly sulked in the corner ever since.

He wouldn't have even accepted their invitation if it hadn't been for Sophia. Sophia Bennett was the final musketeer in their little foursome of awesome, even if she was only a part timer. Sophia was actually Isabella's cousin; her mother had been Isabella's father's younger sister. She was the opposite of Bella in every way. Where Bella's features were decidedly Carmichael, Sophia was decidedly a Bennett. Blonde, and petite with delicate features and great blue eyes, Sophie was easily one of the prettiest girls in school, even if she didn't know it. And Isabella knew for a fact that Jack Ryan had a long standing crush on her.

Giving up, Isabella whipped out her wand and levitated her trunk into the compartment where Lisa and Jack were already seated.

"Took you long enough." Jack grumbled, folding up the Daily Prophet he had been reading when Isabella slid open the compartment door.

"Stuff it Jackie boy." Isabella retorted, throwing a glare at him, "My mum went a little overboard this year, cried every time I started to pack, went on and on about how 'her baby was all grown up now'. I had to put three extension charms on this case to get all the photographs she wanted me to bring in this thing."

"My folks weren't none too fussed." Lisa said, leaning back in her seat and watching Isabella struggle to lift her trunk onto the overhead rack with a vague amusement on her face, "I'm the oldest, they still have three after me."

"Lucky." Isabella spat, finally succeeding in maneuvering her trunk into the tiny provided space, "You'd think from the way she carried on, that Pricilla and Georgina never visited."

"Pricilla still dating that wanker Bobbin?" Lisa asked, digging through her satchel for a few sickles as the candy trolley passed.

"Yeah." Isabella answered rather glumly, "I think their getting serious too, Cilla's been hinting about a wedding-well-you know how subtle she is."

"God, what does she see in him?" Lisa mused, stuffing half a chocolate frog into her mouth.

"I don't know." Isabella muttered bitterly, "He's such an arse, just last week we were having dinner and he says, 'So Bella,' and you know how much I hate people calling me that when they don't know me," Lisa nodded, so she continued, "Anyway, so he says, 'So Bella, what are you thinking of doing with your life after Hogwarts? Important time you know.' And I say that I'm not sure and he starts going on and on about the importance of education and career choice-_lecturing me._ Him, Mr. Pencil Pusher at the Department of Magical Law Enforcement lecturing _me_ about career choice! The nerve!" she huffed and sat down heavily in her seat just as the compartment door opened again.

"Sophia!" Jack exclaimed, jumping to his feet as though burned.

"Hello, Jack." Sophia smiled softly, "I wondered where you disappeared to Bella."

"Sorry Sophie." Isabella smiled ruefully, "I got…erm…distracted, and then I had to find my trunk-"

"Oh, no, I understand," Sophia's smile widened as she waved Isabella's explanation off, "Paul Manes can be _quite _the distraction."

Isabella flushed as Lisa burst into a fit of girlish giggles and Jack scowled.

"You're still on about that prat?" he asked, raising his thin eyebrows condescendingly.

"Yes." Isabella sniffed, 'And he's not a prat-you just think so because he bested you at chess, took your ego down a bit."

"That's neither here nor there," Sophia said quickly just as Jack was about to retort, "All that matters is that I'm here now."

"Yeah, why are you here?" Lisa asked suddenly, sitting up and fixing Sophie with a curious look, 'Don't you have Head Girl duties?"

Sophia flushed and looked down and Bella bit her lip nervously. Of course Lisa would be the one to ask that. Sophia had cried for two weeks when her badge hadn't come, but Isabella hadn't been surprised. It was true that Sophia was the cleverest witch in their year, top of the class in everything, but she wasn't a leader. It was stupid Professor Flitwick that had put that notion into her head. She had never stood a chance against Lily Evens.

"Uh…uh…no." Sophia stuttered, her face turning impossibly red, "Lily got it. But it's alright!" she exclaimed when she saw her friend's faces, 'Lily will be brilliant at it."

"I suppose Remus got Head Boy then?" Lisa asked, referring to the quiet, studious boy that was the Gryffindor prefect with Evens, "I'll kill myself if it's Aubrey."

"No." Sophia said, earning surprised looks from everyone in the compartment, "Its James Potter."

"What!" Lisa shrieked at the same time that Jack shouted "What's Dumbledore playing at?" Isabella remained silent.

James _sodding_ Potter. A close fourth in the year, right behind Lupin. He probably could have been first if he wasn't always goofing off. He was clever; even she had to admit, but a perfect _arse_. Always chasing after Lily, plotting stupid pranks, or sitting in detention. A waste of space.

_And now he's Head Boy._ Her thoughts hissed. It was a travesty; there must have been some kind of mistake.

"There was no mistake." Sophia said, Isabella hadn't realized she'd said the last part a loud, "To be honest, he seemed as surprised as everyone else…Lily didn't seem too happy though."

"Of course not!" Lisa cackled, "She hates him!"

It was true, though they were not in the same house; it was common knowledge that Lily Evens couldn't stand the sight of James Potter.

"Well I hope she doesn't kill him." Lisa sat back with a sigh, "On second thought…"

"Isabella Carmichael?" an unfamiliar voice sounded from the doorway.

'Yes?" Isabella turned and saw a nervous third year Hufflepuff rocking back and forth on her heels.

"Professor Slughorn wants to see you." The girl stuttered, "I think he wants to invite you to lunch."

Isabella rolled her eyes; Horace Slughorn was the Potions master and head of Slytherin house. He had his favorites, Isabella and Sophia being among them, and always tried to hand pick students he thought were going places in the future.

"Sophia Bennett?" the girl had turned to Sophie, when she nodded, the girl continued, "You better come to."

"See you guys later." Isabella said glumly, Lisa rolled her eyes good naturedly while Jack just looked sullen.

The cousins followed the girl down to the very back of the train where Slughorn had set up a very large and luxurious dinner car. There, sitting at the head of the table was the spider himself who stood as soon as they entered.

"Isabella, Sophia, how wonderful to see you both again!" he cried jovially, extending his dinner plate sized hand for Isabella to shake.

"It's wonderful to see you again Professor," Sophia smiled politely as she too reached out to shake Slughorn's hand, "and it was so kind of you to invite us."

"Nonsense my dear, utter nonsense!" Slughorn exclaimed, waving her off, 'Why don't you young ladies take a seat, we're still waiting on a few more…"

The large dining table was populated with the usual suspects. Bertram Aubrey sat directly to Slughorn's right, and arrogant smile on his thin lips. Bertram came from a long like of successful Firewhisky brewers (His great, great, great, grandfather had invented the stuff), and he was a right little priss about it. He had been named one of the Ravenclaw prefects in their fifth year and had spent half of it strutting around the castle like he owned the place. Half only because in March James Potter had hexed his head to make it swell to twice it's size while Sirius Black had held him down. It was the only time Isabella could ever say she had liked James Potter.

On Slughorn's left sat Bertram's fellow prefect, Emmaline Vance. Isabella didn't know much about her, except that her father was pretty high up in the Department of Mysteries. She was the stern, severe type, and, though they were friendly, they weren't friends.

Tiberius McLaggen sat to Aubrey's right. Chunky and arrogant, McLaggen also suffered much hurt pride under the reign of Potter, but Isabella couldn't say she felt sorry for him either. His family was one of the oldest and most distinguished in Ireland, her father had told her many times, but that didn't make him any less of a git. A Captain's badge was pinned to the front of his robes already-they were going to lose for sure.

Next to him lounged Demona De Winter, Slytherin, pureblood, bitch extraordinaire. She came from a long line of aristocrats; her father was something of a hero in the anti-muggle sects. She was quite the little slut though, and no where near as clever as anyone else in the room, she was a surprise.

Madeline Kentwood and Celia Murphy sat together next to Emmaline, though neither was speaking to her. The Kentwood's were one of the oldest wizard bloodlines to still exist, nearly rivaling the Carmichael's in longevity. Celia Murphy was half-blood, her mother; Agnes Lancaster was a brilliant witch from the ancient Lancaster family. Add that to the fact that Celia was the best looking girl in school, and it was no surprise that she was here.

The last seat on the left was inhabited by Marlene McKinnon. A Gryffindor, Marlene came from another pureblood family, almost all of whom had been extraordinary aurors. Her cousin, Alice McKinnon had graduated the year before and was now close to completing the first steps in becoming an auror. Marlene herself was an extraordinary Quidditch player and right clever to boot. She smiled at Sophia and nodded to the seat across from her, next to Celia, leaving the seat next to Demona for Isabella.

As she sat down, she glanced about the room, trying to figure out who they were missing. Lily Evens, of course, but she was off doing Head Girl things, Regulas Black, Sirius Black's brother, must be fifteen now, and Slughorn had probably invited James and Sirius again, but they never came to the meetings.

Soon enough Lily entered the room, a bright smile on her face and a Head Girl badge gleaming on her chest. She was soon followed by Regulas and a couple of underclassmen Isabella did not know.

"Well," Slughorn clapped his hands together, "It appears we will require a few more chairs!" and with a wave of his wand, five more chairs appeared from thin air and Slughorn took his seat at the head of the table.

"Where oh where has the summer gone my friends?" Slughorn boomed as they all sat down, "another wonderful year is ahead of us! But I must introduce our new friends!" he gestured to the rather frightened looking youngsters perched at the end of three of the new wooden chairs.

"This wonderful young lady is Jessica Borboleta," he pointed to a peaky looking first year sitting next to Lily, "you may be familiar with her grandmother's candies?" Slughorn glanced merrily around at them all, "I myself have become too familiar with them lately." He good-naturedly patted his stomach.

"And you all must have heard of this young man's father," he pointed to a third year Slytherin boy who appeared more at ease then either of his companions, "Bartimus Crouch, he's making big waves in the Department of Magical Law enforcement he is," he winked at the boy, "And this is Bartimus Crouch Jr." the boy nodded curtly, his watery blue eyes darting around the room.

"And last, but certainly not least," Slughorn gestured grandly to the final first year boy, 'This is Duncan Wright. His mother currently heads up the Department of International Magical Cooperation."

"Now shall we eat?" Slughorn boomed, to sounds of general agreement. The rest of the ride, for everyone else was spent in pleasant conversation and good food. For Isabella, it was spent in uncomfortable silence as she tried to simultaneously fend off McLaggen's suggestive advances and ignore Demona's dark looks, all while forcing down dried quail.

_It's certainly shaping up to be a wonderful year._ Isabella thought sarcastically as she downed her glass of luke-warm pumpkin juice.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two**

**A Welcome Back**

The castle hadn't changed much over the summer. The gates were still coldly imposing, the grounds still magnificent in their endlessness. The interior hadn't seemed to change either; Isabella sat where she always did at the Ravenclaw table, next to Lisa and across from Jack. Yet, the atmosphere was different. She couldn't put her finger on it. The castle itself was as warm and welcoming and homey as it ever was, but Isabella felt as if the entire feel of the place had changed drastically over their holiday.

No where was this change more evident then on the faces of her professors. The entire Hogwarts staff seemed grim and drawn; their faces were tired and wary. They spoke in low voices to each other as the students filed it, their words indiscernible over the din of the Great Hall. The headmaster, Albus Dumbledore, seemed particularly stoic as he leaned down so weathered old Professor Kettleborn could whisper something in his ear. Dumbledore was a good headmaster, at least she thought so, but her father thought he was a bit off his nut. She supposed he was, but, then again, that's what made him so great.

The doors at the end of the Great Hall open and a tight lipped Professor McGonagall led in a gaggle of petrified first years, which all huddled together in the center of the room. McGonagall was the intimidating head of Gryffindor house. Tall, thin and stern looking, she guided the students of Hogwarts with a firm and steady hand. But she was a little on the scary side and Isabella had always wondered why Dumbledore allowed her to be the first member of the faculty that the already terrified incoming first years saw. However, it was endearing to see that, no matter what else had changed in the world, first years were still first years.

Isabella recalled her own Sorting. Sophia had been so nervous she had gotten sick in the boat, so Bella had tried to look confident in order to reassure her terrified cousin, but, in reality, she had been shaking in her boots. Both of her parents had been in Ravenclaw, as well as both her elder sisters. Isabella remembered being terrified of her parents disappointment and resolving to become a Ravenclaw. She needn't have worried. No sooner had the hat touched her head then the hat had cried "RAVENCLAW!" and the rest was history.

Professor McGonagall headed to the front of the great hall and, with a flourish, revealed their school's old worn out sorting hat-the very one that Isabella had had placed on her head six years ago. For a moment, there was silence, and not a flutter of movement was to be seen as all held their breath as their eyes fixed on the hat.

Finally with a great shake and a shutter, the sorting had sprang to life, earning a cheer form the general audience and a gasp of surprise mixed with wonder from the gathered first years. Without further ado, the had opened it's cloth mouth and cleared it's throat (a very funny thing for a hat to do), and began to sing a jaunty tune;

_I am the Sorting Hat_

_I sit upon your head_

_And everything you've ever thought_

_Every confidence, every doubt,_

_I shall clearly see._

_Four houses are there, I shall name them all_

_So that all, large and small_

_May know our history_

_First Ravenclaw, who are the best_

_At books and deep thinking_

_True scholars all,_

_They have a calling_

_For riddles, puzzles and wit_

_Then Hufflepuff, for those more gentle_

_Hardworking is this stock_

_More loyal mate's you'll never find_

_Then in happy Hufflepuff_

_Slytherin calls those sly ones_

_With whom ambition grows_

_Those sneaky, snide and clever_

_Slytherin House well knows_

_Finally Gryffindor is the house_

_Where the brave and noble dwell_

_Where the reckless and the daring_

_Will surely find a home_

_Come one, come all_

_I'll sort you_

_I'll divide you up in fourths_

_Have no fear, sit right here,_

_Leave your mind free and clear_

_I need no thanks or recompense_

_It is my task…_

_Let the sorting now commence!_

The Great Hall burst into applause as the hat finished, the thundering peals reverberating around the hall, ceasing only when Dumbledore cleared his throat with a smile and nodded to Professor McGonagall to begin the sorting.

"Ashberry, Kent."

"Gryffindor!"

A thin, blonde boy scampered off the stool to join the rowdy Gryffindor table, at the end of which Sophia was applauding their newest addition politely.

"Barton, Christine."

"Ravenclaw!"

A pretty little girl with chocolate colored hair and eyes ran to join her table, her eyes wide and excited.

"Borboleta, Jessica."

Isabella recognized the rather ill little girl from the Slug Club lunch. She looked terrified, and ascended the podium with shaking steps. The hat rested atop her whispery brown hair for a full two minutes before saying, (in a rather unsure voice), "Hufflepuff!"

The sorting went quickly after that. Carton-Olivia, Cuthbert- Andrew, Hahn- Daniel, Jacobs- John_,_ Newton- Cathy, Wilder- Davis, Winchester- Samantha, and Yelt- Harrison joined the Ravenclaw table. Duncan Wright (the other first year in the Slug Club) joined Kent Ashberry at the Gryffindor table.

Finally when Zachery, Tristan, and Zoma, Rachel were sorted into Gryffindor and Hufflepuff respectively, Dumbledore stood and raised his hands for silence. Instantly the Great Hall quieted as every pair of eyes turned to look at the elderly man at the head table.

"Another year is upon us, this one promising to be far more eventful then the last." He said, his voice echoing through the silent hall. 'Some of our number will be graduating, moving on to bigger adventures and more incredible opportunities then our meager halls can offer them. However, we live in dark times, where the closest of friends are strangers and those dearest to us seem to slip so easily away from us. Perhaps, we all must allow ourselves to bask in the lingering visages of innocence our school days provide, rather then dream of days when we alone will look after ourselves."

"Now!" he said, clapping his veined hands together, "Enough talk, (for you have all been so polite in enduring my long-windedness)-let the feast begin!"

Instantly out plates were filled with all manner of delicious food and Dumbledore's less-then-cheery welcome back speech was all but forgotten. It wasn't until later that evening, when everyone else in her dorm had drifted off to sleep, that Isabella thought of it at all. It was strange, she thought, that Dumbledore spoke of exactly what she had been feeling. But, then again, she couldn't be the only one who was feeling a bit antsy...

Isabella rolled over. It really wasn't that strange now that she thought about it. It was just everything that was going on that was scaring her. She yawned and shuffled around a bit, trying to get comfortable. _There was really nothing to be scared of._ She thought as she closed her eyes and slowly drifted off to the land of dreams, _Nothing at all. _


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three**

**It Begins **

When Isabella awoke the next morning, it was to the pleasant tune of songbirds chipping just outside her window. Her room mates were already milling about, Celia and Madeline were both gathering their toilet things and Lisa was already dressed and attempting to comb out her wild curls without much success.

"Well good morning sunshine, I was just about to wake you up!"  
>"Don't lie Lisa, it's not flattering." Isabella grumbled, summoning the will to roll out of bed.<p>

"Lie? Moi?"

"You would have thought it was perfectly amusing to have me sleep though the first day of lessons."

"Well yes, I would have." Lisa conceded with a smile, "but I would have felt bad about it, and I would have come and gotten you by lunch."

"Comforting."

"Oh, you are grumpy this morning." Lisa giggled, "I see the long summer has not made you a morning person."

"Nor will it ever." Isabella said, finally finding the will to move and rising to her feet before stumbling to the mirror, "God, I look a fright!"

"No you don't- you never do. Now please hurry up, I want to get down to breakfast before all the eggs are gone.

The two dressed quickly and were down to the Great Hall in record time. Not in time, however, to catch the last of the eggs.

"Ah well," Lisa said mournfully, staring down at her cold biscuit and bacon, "It's better then nothing at all."

"Here, Here!" Isabella agreed before digging into her own plate.

"You know, if the two of you actually got up on time, you might be able to get something other then the last scraps of breakfast." Jack said scornfully, eyeing their plates with nothing but a cup of coffee before him.

"Yes but where would be the fun in that, Jackie boy?" Lisa said, tossing her hair back, "Nothing stirs the blood like a mad rush for the last seat at the table, nothing invigorates the body like a clawing fight over the last scrap of bacon…" she sighed dramatically, "God I love this place."

"You're a real piece of work Lisa." Jack said, pushing his chair back from the table and standing, "I don't know where you come up with these things sometimes. Your just so dramatic-no one can tell whether your being serious or not."

"Save the lecture Jackie boy." Lisa said, waving him off as she leaned back in her chair and yawned, "It's too early in the morning for that."

With an irritated, humph, Jack turned on his heel and strode off to his first period Transfiguration lesson.

'Sometimes I wonder about that boy." Lisa mused, watching Jack storm away, "He dresses way to fashionably for a guy his age."

"Oh, Lisa lay off him." Isabella scolded, biting into her breakfast sandwich again, "He's just a prick in the mornings-you know that."

Lisa made a non-commental grunting noise.

"What's your first hour?" Isabella asked conversationally, buttering another piece of toast.

"Art."

"Mmmph, I have Transfiguration." Isabella said, leaning over her schedule. Lisa was not what one would call academically inclined, though she was in Ravenclaw. Yes, her interests lay in the pursuits of the mind like all Ravenclaws, but she dabbled in the grey abstract that surrounded solid fact. For this reason, her schedule was filled with classes such as Advanced Art, Care of Magical Creatures, Divination, Astronomy, Astrology, and Charms while Isabella (who was proudly rooted in the concrete) had a schedule filled with Transfiguration, Defense, Potions, Arithmency, Ancient Ruins, and Herbology.

"Hello you two." Sophia had come over to their table.

"Morning." Lisa greeted her cheerily

"Ready to go Bella?"

"Yeah just a minute Soph." Isabella straightened her bag and stood, ready to accompany her cousin to the class that they both shared.

"Good bye smartie-pants!" Lisa called as they hurried out of the Great Hall and towards McGonagall's classroom.

Still chuckling to herself Lisa turned back to her breakfast as the morning owls swooped in, dropping the morning mail. Her own tawny owl, Perkins, delivered her _Prophet_ directly onto her empty plate perfectly, as per usual.

Unfolding it, Lisa scanned the front page, a habit, nothing more. But as her eyes took in the caption under the headline, her neutral expression turned to one of horror.


End file.
